Date: 9/29/03
Author: USA Waterski Press Release

POLK CITY, Fla. - Florida Southern tallied 176 points Sunday to win the 2003 Air Nautique Collegiate Wakeboard National Championships at The Aquaplex in Austin, Texas. Hosted by the Texas State University wakeboard team, the third annual event featured 55 riders from 16 teams. Hunter Croan (McQueeney, Texas) of Texas A&M won the Men's title and Lauren Bowman (Jupiter, Fla.) of Florida Southern won the Women's title.

Florida Southern, which also won the 2002 Collegiate Wakeboard Nationals, finished well ahead of runner-up Texas A&M, which tallied 155 points. Texas (133 points), Wisconsin-Whitewater (110 points) and Louisiana State (107 points) rounded out the top-five placements.

Croan scored 68.89 points in edging Wisconsin-Whitewater's Tim Keepers (East Troy, Wis.). Keepers finished runner-up for the second consecutive year with 65.78 points. Two-time defending champion Loren Levine (Madison, Wis.) of Rollins College finished third with 65.22 points. Florida Southern's Hunter Brown (Winter Haven, Fla.) and North Texas' Justin Harrelson (Katy, Texas) rounded out the top five, scoring 64.89 points and 59.33 points, respectively.

Bowman scored 55.33 points in winning her third consecutive national collegiate wakeboard title. San Antonio College's Jennifer Wright (New Braunfels, Texas) was runner-up with 45.78 points. Austin Community College's Monique Cordelle (Austin, Texas) with 44.67 points, Texas' Meridith Kohut (Tomball, Texas) with 38.78 points, and Louisiana State's Megan Munson (Baton Rouge, La.) with 38 points, rounded out the top-five placements.

The Aquaplex was built on a 60-acre site in 1985 with dual lakes occupying approximately 36 acres. It was designed specifically to accommodate competition water skiing at the world-record level. The Aquaplex has been the site of many major events, including the 2000 U.S. Open Water Ski Championships and the 1995 and 2002 Collegiate Water Ski National Championships. The 2003 Collegiate Water Ski National Championships also will be held at The Aquaplex, Oct. 16-18.

USA Water Ski was formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is affiliated with the International Water Ski Federation (world governing body) and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of organized water skiing in the United States. With more than 40,000 members, USA Water Ski is the largest water ski federation in the world.

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